Budget Links Ohio College Graduation Rates to Funding

Colleges and universities with higher graduation rates will be rewarded with more state money under a new funding formula included in Gov. John Kasich’s latest two-year budget proposal. The winners — and the losers — learned what the new formula would mean in dollars and cents this week when the state released its campus-by-campus spending projection for the fiscal year that begins in July. The numbers vary widely by institution, with Ohio State University getting a more than $10 million boost for its main campus in Columbus, while Bowling Green State University faces a cut of about $2.8 million.Under the formula, half of the state’s higher-education funding for each four-year school would be tied to its average graduation or degree-completion rate from the previous three years. The formula used in the 2014 college-funding forecast is based on actual graduation rates for the past two years and projected rates for the spring. The final formula will be updated when the spring rates have been tallied.